In Southwest Virginia, a popular rail trail that was damaged during Hurricane Helene is slated to be rebuilt beginning this summer. The Virginia Creeper Trail attracts 250,000 tourists a year, but flooding from Hurricane Helene wiped out a 17-mile section that goes through the Jefferson National Forest.
Damascus town manager Chris Bell said the damaged part of the trail was popular for bikers who took a shuttle to the top.
“Ages 4-years-old to 90-years-old could come coasting down the Creeper Trail into the town of Damascus,” Bell said. “Those 17 miles were all downhill. As long as you knew how to brake, you were good.”
More than a dozen bridges were destroyed, parking lots have to be rebuilt, and parts of the trail may need to be rerouted, because the storm reshaped slopes and streambeds along the trail. Repairs are estimated to cost $660 million.
Proponents of the rebuild have touted the trail’s value to the local economy. Bell said they’ve seen an 85 percent dip in their lodging revenue since Helene. Eight shuttle companies that bring in millions of dollars each year transporting riders, now are trying to figure out how to survive.
But there is some good news—the 17 miles of the trail, from Abingdon to Damascus, has reopened. “We want to highlight that half the trail is still open, and beautiful, and just a wonderful experience,” Bell said. The town is hosting several biking and fishing events this year to draw back some of the tourists that the storm drove away.
Funding to rebuild the Creeper trail was included in an appropriations bill Congress passed last December. The forest service has until early February to make their case for how they plan to spend the money, and the rebuild is scheduled to begin this June.
The U.S. Forest Service is accepting comments through Friday night, Jan. 31.
